“Star Authorities” and Orthodoxy
Spiritual Father or "Orthodox" guru?
“Star Authorities” and Orthodoxy
One of the worst sicknesses of “Orthodox Christians” of today is viewing the Church as worldly people view worldly matters and not as Christians. Our Faith is based upon the teachings of Christ as we find in the Gospels, in the teachings of Holy Apostles, in the Ecumenical and local Church councils and in the collection of the teachings of the Church Fathers.
The Church isn’t subject to modern business practices. The fact that sin is rampage today, doesn’t mean that we can change the teachings of the Church. Yes, we can use economy to help a certain soul to be saved and return to the true path, but we certainly cannot change the 2000-year-old teachings of the Holy Church.
One of these sicknesses of today is using, knowingly or unknowingly, the “star authority” method as a way to ignore the true teachings of the Church. A modern-day “holy man” who often times plays the guru comforts many people even though he may be washing away the teachings of the Church.
I’ll never forget a discussion that I had with a nun who lived in Finland. She had no problem with the “new Paschalion” that the Church of Finland used. She could care less what the First Ecumenical Council and even the early Christian saint from her island had to say about the Paschalion and the anathema about changing the Paschalion because her “Elder” had no problem with the strange Paschalion of Finland.
So the star authorities, the new “Elders” or gurus of today can easily replace the teachings of our Church according to many Christians. What a sad state! Instead of finding spiritual fathers and elders who hold strictly to the from ancient times teachings of Holy Orthodoxy (as Holy Orthodoxy teaches us to find), we discover spiritual gurus, based on God knows what criteria, who can easily lead us into beliefs that the Church never had.
